


The Haunting at Sincline House

by bavariansugarcookie



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Childhood Friends, First Kiss, Fluff, Hijinks & Shenanigans, M/M, Mutual Pining, Mystery, Spooky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:27:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27463420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bavariansugarcookie/pseuds/bavariansugarcookie
Summary: Everyone knows that the Sincline house has been empty ever since it flooded years ago, but Lance insists that he saw a light in the window late one night. He talks Shiro, Keith, Hunk, and Pidge into breaking into the house one night to investigate. But the SIncline house might turn out to be more than they bargained for.
Relationships: Keith/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 50





	The Haunting at Sincline House

"I saw what I saw!" Lance hissed, leaning over the lunch table. 

Keith rolled his eyes. "You and Veronica watched too many horror movies on Halloween. You know nobody's lived in that house since the Sinclines moved away, Lance."

"Then why were the lights on last night?" Lance whispered.

"Electrical issues, dumb neighborhood kids..." Pidge said, dipping her tater tot in the ketchup. 

"WE'RE the dumb neighborhood kids!" Lance said, waving at himself and Keith. 

Shiro almost choked on his water at the indignant look on Keith's face.

"So you think I'm dumb enough to sneak through some empty house?" Keith asked.

"No, I know you were too busy 'studying' with Shiro, I'm saying it's _haunted_." Lance insisted. 

Shiro felt his cheeks heat, and he poked at his meatloaf surprise, too nervous to look Keith in the eye. “We _were_ studying,” Keith said, and Shiro could _hear_ his eyes rolling.

"Lance, ghosts aren't real," Pidge said, but Hunk made a face.

"It _is_ a really creepy house..." he said. "Maybe Lance did see something."

"Ah HA!" Lance said, clapping his hands. 

"Lance, you know the Sinclines moved cause the house flooded!" Keith said. "It's not haunted!"

"Come on, you know if any house in the neighborhood was going to be haunted it would be the Sinclines'!" Lance said, and that was - fair actually. The Sinclines were infamous for being eccentric, and obsessed with their grudges. Keith's mom had had to testify against them in court when they sued a neighbor over a property dispute.

"That doesn't mean it's haunted," Keith said stubbornly. 

"Then you shouldn't have a problem going to the Sincline house tonight," Lance said with a smirk.

Keith rolled his eyes. "Cause that's what I want to do on a Friday night. Go to some empty house just so you can jump at all the shadows."

Lance shrugged. "Ok. If you're too scared, you don't have to go."

Keith's eyebrows shot up and Shiro sighed. After 10 years of Lance and Keith being next-door neighbors, he already knew exactly how his Friday night was going to go.

***

"Ugh, it smells gross in here!" Pidge said, pinching her nose as she waved her flashlight along the walls. 

"That's what happens when a house floods and then gets moldy," Keith grumbled, wrinkling his nose and poking a toe at a pile of carpet that had been pulled up sometime after the flood.

"Ok, guys, can we focus?" Hunk asked, his voice a little shaky. 

"Right. Which window was the light coming from, Lance?" Shiro asked.

"Ummm... “ Lance pointed at one window, and then wavered. “This one? Or maybe that one?"

"You don't know?" Pidge asked, exasperated.

"It was dark, ok? I was walking Blue and then all of a sudden I saw the light and I ran inside!"

"I knew this was a waste of time," Keith said, and Lance squawked in outrage.

"Ok guys," Shiro said. "Pidge is right, it smells really bad in here, so let's split up so we can find... whatever it is we're looking for."

"Ok," Lance said, rubbing his hands together. "Keith, Pidge, and I'll look downstairs, Shiro & Hunk can look upstairs."

"Upstairs?" Hunk gulped. "In the dark?"

"Hunk, it's fine, I can go upstairs," Keith said.

"Big surprise," Lance muttered, squeaking when Pidge elbowed him in the ribs.

The plan settled, Shiro and Keith set off upstairs, while Lance started gushing about how he couldn't wait to tell Allura that he'd seen a real ghost.

The air smelled a lot less moldy upstairs, and the setting sun was peeking through the hallway window, turning the walls a burnt honey color. Keith looked into the rooms, one by one.

"Empty," he said with a shrug. "What're we even supposed to be looking for, anyway?"

"Well..." Shiro said. "If it was an electrical problem, maybe we can get the lights to turn on." He flipped the hallway light switch a few times, but it stayed off.

“Maybe that light bulb burned out?" Keith suggested, ducking into each bedroom to test the other lights, but none of them wanted to turn on either.

Shiro followed him into the last bedroom and Keith looked up at him, his hair turning red and golden in the dying light.

"I knew this was a dumb idea," he muttered, but Shiro just laughed, his heart fluttering against his ribs. 

"It's not so bad as far as Lance’s ideas go," he said, bumping his shoulder against Keith's.

Keith snorted. "You wanted to break into the world's most boring 'haunted' house on a Friday night?"

Shiro shrugged. "Better then the world's scariest haunted house." Keith smirked up at him, and Shiro swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry. "Besides, even a boring haunted house is fun with you."

"Oh," Keith whispered. "Shiro..."

Suddenly there was a crash, and Keith jumped. Shiro reached out without thinking, and suddenly he found himself with his arms around Keith, cradling him close. 

"Lance, be careful!" Pidge's voice echoed up the stairs, and Keith sighed out, his body relaxing in Shiro's arms.

Because Shiro was still holding him.

"Oh, sorry," he mumbled, but Keith just looked up at him. 

"Shiro..." he whispered again, his gaze flicking down to Shiro's lips. 

Shiro stared down into purple eyes gleaming in the fiery sunlight, and let himself fall.

It was a clumsy kiss - just a brush of lips, really. But Keith gasped and clutched at Shiro's shirt for dear life, standing on tiptoe. 

Shiro's hands dropped to the small of his back, pulling him close, and Keith sighed, wrapping an arm around Shiro's neck to keep his balance.

Shiro whimpered when Keith let his tongue tease at Shiro's bottom lip, and he tilted his head to deepen the kiss. He felt Keith smile against his lips, and Shiro was addicted. He could kiss Keith forever, just like this.

And then, with a loud hum and a pop, the light above them flickered on.

They broke apart, staring up at the light. The fan started spinning lazily above them, and Keith looked up at Shiro, eyebrows raised. "What the..."

Shiro looked at Keith's kiss-swollen lips and pink cheeks and swore he could feel his heart trying to beat out of his chest. Whether it was from the kiss or the creepy flickering light, he wasn't sure.

He caught Keith's hand and squeezed. "Hey, Lance?" he called. "You guys might want to come up here."

They heard footsteps clattering up the stairs, and then Pidge pushed the door open. Lance and Hunk piled in after her, and they all stared up wordlessly at the light.

"There's no way..." Pidge whispered.

"Ah HA!" Lance crowed. "I told you!! I told you I saw a light!" Then he looked at Keith and Shiro and smirked. "What were _you two_ doing?"

Keith blinked at him. "We were checking the lights," he said, all faux-innocence. His kiss-swollen lips and tousled hair ruined the effect a little, and Shiro knew he looked just as rumpled. 

"For fifteen minutes?" Lance said, grinning like the cheshire cat, and Keith blushed.

Suddenly the light flickered on and off, and they all jumped. Pidge smirked at them, her hand on the light switch. "So the lights do work," she quipped. 

"Wouldn't they have turned off the power though? That's _got_ to be a fire hazard," Hunk said, ever practical.

"Only one way to know," Pidge said. "Let's check the circuit breaker."

"In the basement?" Hunk squeaked, but Pidge just smiled and looped her arm through his, herding him into the hallway.

Keith grabbed Shiro's hand again as they all trooped down stairs, and Shiro knew his smile was ridiculously moony, but he didn't care.

They slowly walked down the basement stairs while Pidge shone her flashlight at their feet, to make sure no one tripped.

Shiro tried not to think about camel crickets, or raccoons, or anything else that might have moved into the basement since the Sinclines left.

The mildewy smell was even worse in the basement, and they all held their noses as they finally stepped onto the dirty concrete floor. 

Pidge shone her flashlight along the walls, looking for the circuit breaker.

But instead of the circuit breaker, the light landed on a tower of mannequins and dress forms piled up in the corner.

"Oh HELL no," Hunk said, turning and bolting up the stairs.

"They're just dress forms!" Pidge protested, but Lance was already running up the stairs after Hunk. 

"Honestly..." Pidge said, rolling her eyes, but then something brushed against Shiro's leg.

"Oh my God!" he shrieked.

"What???" Pidge shouted, shining her light at their feet. Shiro caught a glimpse of white fur and a long tail, but he was already pushing Keith toward the stairs.

"Forget it, Pidge!" he shouted, grabbing her arm to drag her along behind him.

"Shiro, it's just Mr. Coran's cat!" Pidge said, running over to scoop up Fluffy. She turned back, with a very grumpy white cat in her arms - and dropped the flashlight.

"Pidge!" Keith said, running forward to look for the flashlight - only to send it skidding away into the dark.

"Keith! Pidge!" Shiro fumbled forward, until his hand brushed against Keith's arm. "Where are you, Pidge?" Shiro called.

"I'm here! Fluffy, please don't scratch me..." she groaned. Her hand flailed into Shiro's and he caught on, pushing her and Keith ahead of him toward the stairs.

They burst through the kitchen door and ran down the stairs until they reached Lance and Hunk, who had collapsed in a heap on the grass.

Pidge put Fluffy down and she ran off with a disgruntled flick of her tail.

"Oh good," Lance said. "We were just about to go in and rescue you guys."

Pidge snorted. "My hero."

"Pidge, you SAW those creepy mannequins!" Hunk said. "They might as well have left a bunch of cursed dolls down there!"

"Mrs. Sincline probably just left them behind because they had water damage," Pidge said, but even she sounded a little uncertain.

"So are you volunteering to go back?" Shiro asked.

Pidge paused, wrinkling her nose - and the porch light flickered on above them.

"Nope, no way!" Hunk muttered, scrambling to his feet and running up the driveway, toward Lance's house.

"Hunk, wait!" Lance yelped, slipping in the grass as he tried to follow. Pidge hauled him to his feet and took off after Hunk, clutching his arm.

Shiro grabbed Keith's hand and ran, not stopping until they had reached Lance's house and tumbled into the living room. 

"Never again," Hunk gasped, trying to catch his breath.

"But... You have to admit it. I was right!" Lance said, his triumph muted by the blanket he was hiding under.

"I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation," Pidge said. "I can't think of one right now, but..."

"I don't care what it is, I'm not going back there," Shiro said. He turned to Keith, who had a thoughtful look on his face. 

"It didn't feel scary though," he said.

"Wait, you WEREN'T freaked out by the possessed mannequins?" Hunk said incredulously.

Keith snorted. "No, that was super creepy, it had Mrs. Sincline's name all over it. But the lights..." He shrugged. "I don't know, it was almost like something was... trying to say hello."

"Oh my God, Keith believes the house is haunted now, we're all doomed," Hunk moaned.

Keith blushed, but Shiro just smiled and draped his arm around his shoulders. 

"It just means you're way braver than the rest of us scaredy cats," he said.

Keith shook his head and gave him that small, private smile Shiro loved so much. "You didn't leave me behind though. That's pretty brave."

"Ummm, is that a dig at me and Hunk for not letting ourselves be murdered by the creepy house?" Lance asked with a pout. 

"I'll take it," Hunk said. "I'd rather be a scaredy cat than one of Mrs. Sincline's mannequins."

"Talk about a fate worse than death," Pidge muttered.

They all laughed, and Lance went into the kitchen and found the emergency box of brownie mix his mom kept hidden in the back of the pantry. 

"I'm pretty sure this counts as an emergency," he said as he dumped the mix into a bowl.

They gossiped and teased each other and fought over who got to lick the spoon while the brownies baked - and if they all stuck to the buddy system, too spooked to be alone, well, who could blame them?

Keith held onto Shiro's hand all night and Shiro's cheeks were hurting from smiling so much. 

Eventually Lance gave up on trading significant glances with Hunk and Pidge and finally asked, "So you two were totally making out upstairs, right?"

Keith spluttered and Shiro burst out laughing, hiding his face in Keith's shoulder.

***

They never went into the Sincline house again, but sometimes, when Shiro went over to Keith's house, the light in the upstairs bedroom would turn on.

As if it was trying to say hello.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! <3 Even if I had my idea for a spooky haunted house story days AFTER Halloween! Oops!
> 
> Also the kitty is inspired by a cat that BROKE INTO my house through the cat door in the basement when I was in hs (it took over an hour to kick his fluffy butt out!) so don't worry, Keith's dad went and boarded up the cat door so Fluffy couldn't break in again! 😂
> 
> You can find me over on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/bavariancookie) if you want to talk about Sheith!


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